Best Queer

“Don’t Call Us Dead” is a poetry collection by Danez Smith exploring themes of Black queer life and survival. The work confronts loss, violence, and resilience with raw emotional honesty. Smith’s powerful verse garnered the National Book Award for Poetry, making this collection significant for rea...

Outpunk was a San Francisco-based zine and record label established in 1991 by Matt Wobensmith. It became significant as a key component of the early queercore movement, providing a platform for queer punk music and fostering community. The publication focused on showcasing emerging artists within t...

Adrienne Rich’s 1978 collection, *The Dream of a Common Language*, offers a powerful examination of gender, power, and identity through intensely personal poetry. It is notable for its pioneering feminist perspective, exploring themes of female experience, historical oppression, and queer desire wit...

Night Sky with Exit Wounds is a debut poetry collection by American poet, Victoria Chang. The work explores themes of familial trauma, identity, and mental health through intensely personal lyric essays. Notable for its raw emotional honesty and experimental form, it’s particularly relevant to reade...

The Tradition is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection by Trudier Harris. It explores themes of Black American identity and experience through deeply personal narratives centered around family history and spiritual heritage. The work examines the complexities of faith, memory, and resilience wi...

Kenneth Anger’s *Scorpio Rising* (1963) is an experimental American short film exploring themes of sexuality, ritual, and counterculture. The movie combines motorcycle culture with elements of occultism and a distinctive pop music score. It gained notoriety within the underground film scene for its...

Thief in the Interior is the 2016 debut poetry collection by American poet Phillip B. Williams. The collection addresses Black queer identity, faith, desire, violence, and the body through formally varied poems that draw on religious and mythological imagery. It received critical recognition in cont...

“The Renunciations” is a poetry collection by Casey Jacobsen exploring themes of grief and identity through a distinctly queer lens. It examines loss and transformation with raw honesty and nuanced observation. The work received a notable Pushcart Prize recognizing its powerful exploration of perso...

Danez Smith’s *Homie* is a 2020 poetry collection exploring themes of Black friendship and queer identity within the context of American experiences. The work offers powerful reflections on loss, resilience, and community, particularly through the lens of intimate relationships. It resonates with re...

Butterfly Soup is a 2017 visual novel developed by Brianna Lei. The game centers on four queer Asian-American teenagers who form a baseball team in Fremont, California. It explores themes of friendship, identity, and community through a comedic narrative. This title offers an engaging experience for...

Briefs: The Second Coming presents a unique burlesque experience originating from the Australian Briefs Factory. This touring production combines elements of masculine drag with impressive circus skills and intensely physical striptease routines. It’s designed for audiences who appreciate challengin...

Ocean Vuong’s *On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous* is an epistolary novel presented as a lengthy letter from a young man to his illiterate mother. The narrative explores themes of family trauma, identity, and the immigrant experience through deeply personal recollections. It’s notable for its lyrical p...

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities is the 2017 debut poetry collection by Chinese American poet Chen Chen, published by BOA Editions. The book was longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry and received the Thom Gunn Award from the Publishing Triangle. Chen's poems ad...

Ocean Vuong’s *Time Is a Mother* is a 2022 poetry collection exploring profound themes of loss, remembrance, and familial connection. The work examines grief through the lens of Vuong's experience with his mother's death and his Vietnamese-American identity. It offers poignant reflections on memory...

Prelude to Bruise is the 2014 debut poetry collection by American poet Saeed Jones. The book examines the intersections of race, sexuality, and violence through the lens of a young, queer Black man growing up in the American South. Jones utilizes intense, physical imagery to explore themes of bodily...

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency is a 2022 poetry collection by Chen Chen. Its poems examine queer life, family relationships, Chinese American identity, grief, intimacy, and the social dislocation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Written for readers of contemporary lyric po...

Alive at the End of the World is a 2022 poetry collection by American writer Saeed Jones and his second published collection of poems. Across 46 poems, Jones addresses grief, violence, race, queer identity, desire, and survival amid personal and collective crisis. The book received an Anisfield-Wolf...

The Bite Club is a touring burlesque production originating from Australia. It combines elements of queer cabaret, circus performance, and dark humor through intensely energetic striptease routines featuring gender-bending acts. This show appeals to audiences interested in acrobatic spectacle, uniqu...

Butterfly Soup 2 is a visual novel sequel to Brianna Lei’s acclaimed work. It revisits the narrative of a 2009 high school student, exploring themes of queer identity and personal growth through a lens of Asian-American experience. The game centers on the protagonist's relationships and athletic pur...

Queer Zine Explosion was a significant U.S. publication operating primarily in the 1990s. It served as an essential archive and distributor of independent queer zines. The project documented a thriving DIY print culture within the LGBTQ+ community, offering critical reviews and fostering connections...

Donika Kelly’s Bestiary is a 2016 poetry collection examining profound themes through the lens of mythic creatures. The work utilizes fantastical beasts—like griffins and sirens—to represent experiences of trauma, personal transformation, and the complexities of queer Black womanhood. It's notable f...

Ocean Vuong is a prominent American poet of Vietnamese descent known for intensely lyrical works exploring themes of displacement, identity, and trauma. His writing frequently examines queer experiences and the intersections of race, memory, and violence. He’s particularly recognized for his novel *...

Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks (1947) remains a significant work of American experimental cinema. This short film, created during Anger's adolescence, explores themes of sexuality and desire through evocative imagery and music. It is notable as one of the first openly queer films produced in the United S...

Tommy Pico’s *Nature Poem* (2017) presents a compelling collection of poetry examining contemporary Indigenous experiences within urban environments. The work blends Kumeyaay heritage with queer perspectives offering a unique lens on identity and displacement. It's notable for its innovative approac...

Jericho Brown’s *Please* is a 2007 poetry collection exploring themes of black identity, queer experience, and profound personal suffering. The work gained significant recognition with the American Book Award highlighting its powerful examination of race, religion, and trauma. It resonates particula...

Published in 2019 by Olivia Waite, this historical romance novel is notable for its sapphic relationship and its focus on 19th-century scientific translation.

C.R.A.Z.Y. is a Canadian drama film exploring themes of identity and family relationships across several decades. The story centers on a young man’s journey to understand his sexuality within the restrictive social norms of Quebec in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It offers a nuanced depiction of generati...

Natalie Diaz is an American poet of Mojave descent whose work explores themes of identity, displacement, and Indigenous experience. She gained significant recognition with the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for her collection, Postcolonial Love Poem. Her poetry resonates particularly with readers interested in...

We Know the Devil is a 2015 horror visual novel developed by Date Nighto. The game explores themes of identity and trauma within a secluded summer camp setting. It’s notable for its mature content and intricate branching narrative centered around queer characters grappling with unsettling revelation...